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t-w-e-n-t-y

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zm

It's silent.

Eerily quiet, even as Zayn and Niall both move about the kitchen as they prepare dinner. It's been an awkward twenty or so hours since Niall admitted he might have feelings for Harry.

"Hey Zayn?" Niall asks, Zayn making a noise to let Niall know he's listening, "Do you have the spatula over there?" He nods, grabbing the spatula and passing it over to Niall with nothing more than a quick glance.

And the silence is back.

Zayn doesn't know what to say. He's scared he'll say the wrong thing and push Niall away, but he knows this distant silence is probably doing that well enough, so he's stuck between wanting to stay quiet for fear of pushing him away with the wrong words, and wanting to say something for fear of pushing him away with the silence.

It's an awful tug of war battle that's raging inside of him.

Niall sighs, using the spatula to scrape down the side of the deep pan he's using to make the pasta sauce while still stirring it with the wooden spoon, all while Zayn prepares the zucchini side dish. The salad is already prepared and resting comfortably in the fridge where Niall has placed it.

He wants to say something.

He's scared of saying the wrong thing, though. He doesn't want to upset Zayn any more than he already has, nor does he want to make this whole situation worse.

They're both stuck in the same battle of wanting to say something, but not being sure of what to say.

But then it hits Niall before he's even realized it.

Zayn, who is almost done laying out the zucchini strips, lets out a sigh. He wants to tell Niall it will all be okay, but he's not even so sure of that himself anymore. He looks at the lattice design on top of the little casserole dish, smiling a little to himself. It looks good, he has to admit. He turns around to show Niall his creation, feeling proud of himself, only to see he's gone out of the kitchen and the sauce is beginning to bubble too much.

Zayn sighs again, the all too familiar ache of sadness stinging at his heart as he sets down the casserole dish and moves to stir the sauce so it doesn't burn.

The frown on his face is unmistakable as he stirs it slowly, keeping it from sticking to the sides. It's almost done, just a few more minutes and it should be perfect.

He could probably turn the heat all the way down to low and just let it simmer, but he likes to be an attentive cook. He doesn't like to let things cook themselves when he could be paying attention to them and giving them the care they deserve.

As he's stirring the sauce, a tap on his shoulder pulls his attention. He looks over to see Niall, holding a handful of flowers he's just picked from outside, with a nervous smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" Zayn asks, his hand no longer stirring as it was a moment ago.

"Asking my boyfriend to dance," Niall holds the flowers out and Zayn sets the wooden spoon down on the handle and clicks the heat to low so the sauce can simmer. It can cook itself right now, his boy is asking him to dance.